The present disclosure relates to infant warming systems, such as incubators and radiant warmers, and more specifically to systems and methods for controlling temperature inside an infant incubator or other warming system.
Some infants and especially some prematurely born infants at birth are not physiologically well enough developed to be able to survive without special medical attention. A frequently used medical aid for such infants is the incubator. The primary objective of the incubator is to provide an environment which will maintain the infant at a minimum metabolic state thereby permitting as rapid physiological development as possible.
Currently available incubators generally utilize two different approaches for maintaining temperature inside the incubator. One approach employs a thermostat control to measure the air temperature inside the incubator and turn on or turn off a heater, such as an air heater, in response to changes in the air temperature within the incubator at a constant value. This approach, however, does not provide any control over the infant's temperature. Another approach is an incubator temperature control system that includes a temperature sensor to measure infant skin temperature. The heater is then controlled based on the measured skin temperature of the infant in order to maintain the skin temperature within a predetermined range.